Kindred: The Embraced: The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori
"The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori" is the sixth episode of the Fox Network television series Kindred: The Embraced. Directed by Kenneth Fink, it first aired on Wednesday, April 24th, 1996 at 8:00 pm. In this episode, Eddie Fiori's sire Cyrus comes to San Francisco with a plan to help Eddie get rid of Julian Luna once and for all. He provides him with an Assamite assassin - a shape-shifter who can make herself appear to be anyone. To facilitate his scheme, Eddie manipulates Lillie Langtry into helping him. Synopsis Julian Luna is spending a romantic evening with his lover Caitlin Byrne. Julian's former mistress, the Toreador Lillie Langtry takes the form of a wolf and looks in on them from outside a window at Caitlin's home. She then assumes human form and looks noticeably angry. The following day, Lillie meets with a private investigator named Mister Benning at the Nighthawks Diner. She tells Benning about her "cheating boyfriend" and hands him photographs of Julian and Caitlin. She hands him a thick stack of money and says that she wants to hire him to sabotage their relationship. Benning looks at the photos and the money and accepts the job. When he looks up though, Lillie is gone. Meanwhile, the Brujah Prince of Los Angeles, a vampire named Cyrus comes to the Dock Worker's Union accompanied by two Brujah thugs. Cyrus is Eddie Fiori's sire and he finds Eddie sitting in his office making out with a young woman. As he enters, Eddie dismisses the young woman and the two vampires talk business. Eddie voices his discontent over Julian Luna's methods and Cyrus understands that Eddie is looking to dethrone the Prince and take the position of leadership for himself. Cyrus agrees to help make Eddie's dreams come true, mostly because it will also allow him to gain a foothold in San Francisco. Cyrus provides Eddie with an assassin from the Assamite clan. He explains that in addition being excellent killers, Assamites are also shape-shifters. Eddie learns this fact for himself when the woman he had been kissing reveals herself as the Assamite. The Assamite begins its hunt by skulking about inside of Caitlin Byrne's home. Lurking from within the shadows, it watches as Caitlin fields a telephone call from Julian. At The Haven, Julian, Archon Raine and Cash meet with Eddie Fiori. Cyrus and his henchmen are also present. Cyrus criticizes Julian's approach towards working within human laws. Eddie makes a few pointed comments of his own and Julian warns him not to try his patience. Sasha enters the club and Cash intercepts her, telling her that this is not a good time to be visiting. He walks off and Sasha stares at him angrily, breaking a glass with her hand. She goes upstairs to see Lillie who relates to Sasha's situation, for they are both in love with men who constantly push them away. Lillie stares out the window of her parlor and sees Benning spying on Julian. The private investigator eventually leaves the club and follows Julian back to Caitlin's house. Outside of Caitlin's place, Cash stands guard with Julian's bodyguard Billy. Sasha arrives and Cash apologizes to her for brushing her off. He explains that the Gangrel cannot be seen being soft on the Brujah - any Brujah. While Cash and Sasha talk, the Assamite drops down from a tree and beheads Billy with a large knife. From another section of the property, Benning continues spying on Julian and Caitlin. As he watches them kiss, he begins snapping photographs with his camera. The sound of the camera alerts Cash and he runs back towards the limo. Along the way, he finds Billy's decapitated body on the ground. Julian leaves Caitlin's house and goes to his car where Billy stands waiting. He doesn't realize that this is really the Assamite assuming Billy's form. Cash shouts and warns Julian that he is talking to a shape-shifter. The two begin fighting, but the Assamite breaks free of Julian's grip and grabs Sasha. It uses her as cover so that it can make it's escape. Later, at Eddie's office, the Assamite arrives and is silent. Cyrus and Eddie know that she has thus far failed to kill Julian. Eddie grows nervous because he knows that Julian must now realizes that he has set him up. Cyrus reassures him that the Assamite will finish the job. At Julian's house, Sasha feels bad and blames herself for Billy's death. Julian doesn't blame her and the conversation quickly turns to Sasha's growing Brujah tendencies. She laments being Brujah and wishes that she was a Ventrue like Julian. She goes to the Haven where she finds Cash with one of his Gangrel, Lorraina. She tells Cash that he was right about the nature of her Brujah blood. Brujah and Gangrel cannot co-exist. She turns to leave and Cash tries to stop her, but she keeps on walking. Lillie returns to the diner and meets with the private investigator. He shows her new photographs of Julian and Caitlin. Some of the photos also show images of Julian fighting the Assamite and Billy's beheaded body. Lillie wants the negatives, but Benning won't give up the ones of Julian fighting the Assamite. He tells her that he left them with a good friend who still works on the police force. Benning tells her that if she wants the photos, she will have to give him more money. He leaves the diner, but Lillie follows him back to his apartment. She attacks him in an elevator and drinks his blood. Lillie then goes to see Frank Kohanek, Benning's friend who possesses the negatives. Lillie tells Frank that Eddie Fiori tried to have Julian killed. If Eddie were to become Prince of the city, Frank would lose the protection he now enjoys under Julian's rule. She also reveals that she hired the private investigator because she was jealous of Julian's relationship with Caitlin. Lillie and Frank begin making out. Later, Frank goes to the San Francisco Times and shows Caitlin the photographs of Julian fighting the Assamite. He tells her, "In our job we see things. Things we can't believe, but we do. Not just because it’s in black and white or in our metro section, but because we know out there in some hearts this brutality really exists." He warns Caitlin to stay away from Julian Luna. Caitlin takes the photographs and shows them to Julian. She tells him that a private investigator took them and they found their way back to her. Julian tries to gloss over the matter, but Caitlin finds that she cannot trust him. She is scared of the world he lives in and breaks up with him. Julian then goes to The Haven and meets with Lillie in private. Lillie confesses that she hired Benning to spy on him. Julian tells her that her acts of selfishness have endangered the Masquerade, but Lille retorts, declaring that Julian risks the Masquerade himself by involving himself with a journalist. She asks for Luna's forgiveness, but he is too angry. Julian leaves the club. Eddie later visits Lillie in her parlor and asks her where Julian is. She says she doesn't know. Eddie makes small talk and observes Julian's persistent affection towards humans. He wonders if Julian would rather be human than Kindred. Sensing Lillie's discomfort on the matter, he tries to manipulate her emotions to get her to side with him against Luna. He wants Lillie's help and the support of her clan. Eddie reveals his plan for getting rid of Julian and he wants Lillie to set up a meeting between the two. Eddie goes back downstairs where he finds Cyrus waiting for him. Cyrus tells Eddie that he's sending in the Assamite as backup. Eddie suspects that Cyrus is looking to betray him and take San Francisco for himself. Time passes and Lillie goes downstairs. She finds Caitlin sitting in a booth having a drink. Lillie sits down and Caitlin tells her that she broke up with Julian. She's not even sure why she came to the club and says "I guess I just wanted to be near the things he's close to". At the mansion, Julian goes into the library where he finds Lillie. He immediately recognizes her as the Assamite and pulls out his gun. The Assamite brandishes a knife and they begin fighting. He pushes her out of the way, then runs off into another part of the house. Julian runs into his office and finds Cash. He asks for Cash's gun. Neither of them notice that Eddie Fiori is sitting with his back turned in Luna's chair. He spins the chair around, brandishing a double-barreled shotgun and fires a shot straight into Julian's chest. While Cash sees to his fallen Prince, Eddie runs past him and down the stairs. He finds Lillie and tells her that he has just murdered Julian Luna. Distraught with guilt for the part she played in this scheme, Lillie goes to Daedalus' warren and confesses to letting Eddie into the house, knowing that he intended on killing Julian. Time passes and a conclave is held in Eddie Fiori's office. He proclaims himself as the new Prince of San Francisco. The other Primogen are still reeling from the shock of Julian's demise. Daedalus shows his true feelings towards Eddie and hisses, "Retribution will find you, Fiori. Some night when you're feeling the strongest, you'll bleed until you're dry." Suddenly, Julian Luna bursts into the room attended by a compliment of armed Ventrue. He smugly reveals that it was the Assamite shape-shifter that Eddie killed, not him. Eddie has the power, but Archon Raine reminds him that a Prince is nothing without the backing of the Primogen. Determined to make retribution for her sins, Lillie takes a samurai sword from the wall and decapitates Eddie Fiori. Julian becomes Prince of the city once again. He tells the other Brujah that they must choose a new Primogen. He'll honor any choice they make, but they must choose wisely. Later, Caitlin meets with Julian outside his mansion. She tells him that although he scares her, what scares her more is the thought of losing him. The two make up with one another and begin kissing. Cast Regular Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * This episode is available on the Kindred: The Embraced - The Complete Series DVD collection released on August 21st, 2001. * Production code number: 3795-006. * This episode first aired on Stacy Haiduk's birthday. * This episode introduces the Assamites, a clan of independent vampires who exist outside of the hierarchical structure of most other Kindred. In the Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing game, Assamites are in fact skilled assassins, but they are not shape-shifters as presented in this episode. * Presumably, the gun that Eddie used to kill the Assamite was loaded with phosphorous rounds. Otherwise, the vampire would have survived the attack. Frank Kohanek is also equipped with phosphorous weaponry. * Frank Kohanek makes reference to Alexandra Serris in this episode. Alexandra was a vampire and Frank's lover who was killed in "The Original Saga". Quotes See also External Links * * * * ---- Category:1996 television episodes